Boston’s Casket Rats crash through the gates with their debut album Rat City Rockers, a blitz of lust, rebellion, and unrepentant sleaze this November on Tee Pee Records.
“If you still believe in rock and roll, we’ve got you covered,” declares bassist Keith Bennett. “No gods, no masters, no kings – rock and roll will set us free.”
Named after their gritty Allston stomping ground, Rat City Rockers is nine tracks of sonic excess: hard riffs, thunder bass, pummelling drums, and weathered vocals that channel decades of chaos. From the cutthroat opener ‘Blood in the Water’ to the anthemic ‘Au Revoir’ and the expansive closer ‘Watch It Burn’, the record is pure, unfiltered rock and roll.
Bassist and vocalist Keith Bennett, a veteran of the Boston hardcore scene (Wrecking Crew, PanzerBastard, Death Ray Vision), describes the album as, “a ticking time bomb waiting to blow with four Rats in a basement sweating, vibing, yelling, and hitting things at a very high decibel level.”
Earlier this summer, Casket Rats unleashed their previous single ‘Whiskey Queen’ (here), a black-and-white performance video filmed at their Brighton practice space which paid tribute to the women in Boston’s rock, punk, and metal scenes who live harder than the men. Their new single ‘Stealin” follows this week having received premièred on Ghost Cut Magazine. A fist-in-the-air rocker armed with one of the sharpest lyrical punches the city has heard in years, Casket Rats have made a habit of slinging dirty riffs and throwback rock ‘n’ roll since its inception a few short years ago. Preaching from the altar a classic cocktail of rock and roll aggression and gluttony, it doesn’t sound out of place in the dusty vinyl bins alongside the likes of Thin Lizzy and Motorhead.
Produced and mixed by Alex Garcia-Rivera at Mystic Valley Studios, mastered by Howie Weinberg, and paired with artwork by Nick Mehos and photography by Hilarie Jason, Rat City Rockers captures the band’s primal intent. As drummer Phil “Fast Phil” Slopak explains, “it’s music by outcasts for outcasts. It’s not meant to be pretty, nor perfect.”
As Bennett concludes: “When you put the needle to the vinyl, we want you to feel like you are part of something powerful, dangerous, and real. That’s the power and glory of rock and roll – we’re merely the evangelists.”
Rat City Rockers is released 7th November 2025 on Tee Pee Records | Pre-order here
Stream new single ‘Stealin” here
BAND OF THE DAY: CASKET RATS
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